FORT WORTH, Texas — Luka Doncic is 23, blessed with the footwork of a ballerina and the 3-point shot of Larry Bird. But he also has a body full of baby fat and the post-shot antics of a pouting child.
The Dallas Mavericks’ first-team NBA player is beyond what the team could have hoped for when they traded Trae Young and a first-round draft pick to acquire Doncic in the 2018 NBA draft.
He’s a top-five NBA player, and one of the few people in sports worthy of a ticket purchase.
Giannis. Jokic. Brady. Connor McDavid. Nathan MacKinnon (both NHL players; if you don’t know them, that’s on you). Ohtani. Djokovic.
There are others, and Luka is in that group.
He will stay there, too, provided he grows up.
Warriors end Mavericks’ season
The Dallas Mavericks’ season, and Hollywood-caliber entertaining playoff run, ended Thursday night in San Francisco with a 120-110 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
The Mavs lost the series, 4-1.
The only disappointment is the Mavs should have won two games in this series.
These playoffs were mostly full of positive developments, and Stone Cold Steve Austin level realities.
The top reality on the list is Doncic, because this is all going to get harder.
“We are the hunted now,” Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said Friday during the team’s season-ending media session.
The Inside the NBA on TNT justifiably took aim at Doncic on Thursday night, during, and after, the game.
Commentators Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal lived the NBA superstar life, and they rightfully expect more from Doncic.
So should owner Mark Cuban. So should coach Jason Kidd. So should GM Nico Harrison.
So should Luka Doncic.
Because when you could be one of the best players in the history of basketball, you don’t get a pass.
Luka’s fitness
One, Doncic has to get into better shape.
He does not need to look like he is cut from granite. Also, he can’t look like he just woke up from a three-night frat boy bender on South Beach.
Too often, he looks gassed.
This starts in the offseason, so by the time training camp rolls around he does not have to be rolled in like he’s starring in “My 600-Lb. Life.”
Maybe that is a bit extreme, but in each of the last two seasons Doncic has started the season poorly because he’s not in shape.
When TNT’s Reggie Miller called out Luka for looking overweight in December, he hit a nerve. To his credit, Luka owned it and came around.
And he still has to get better with it, because as he ages this only grows harder.
If he’s in better condition, he won’t struggle to run back on defense.
If he’s in better condition, it could potentially alleviate some of the nagging physical ailments that continually “gnat” him.
“He needs a break. He deserves a break; the load he carries for this organization is big,” Kidd said Friday. “We truly believe he will be in shape and ready to go.”
No one expects Doncic to be Dennis Rodman, but when your best player is too tired to return on defense with the rest of his teammates, it’s a bad look.
Kidd called out Doncic for his defense after Game 2 of the Suns series, and he responded by playing better as the Mavs won four of the next five.
No one expects him to lock anyone down, but he can’t be a liability.
Complaints about no-calls
And, while he’s improving his conditioning, maybe reduce the whining.
The NBA has not seen a whiner like Doncic since Sir CriesALot, Tim Duncan.
There are still way too many instances of Doncic driving to the basket and a play going awry, with Luka throwing up his arms in disgust.
And while he stands there waving his arms, complaining to the refs either verbally or with his body language, the play goes the other way.
He wants a foul called. All of them.
Doncic attempted 7.5 free throws per game this season, fifth most in the NBA. They are not going to call every single foul.
He was assessed 18 technical fouls, the second highest figure in the league behind Trae Young’s 19.
Kidd has worked with Doncic on this issue, politely suggesting that all Luka is doing is alienating the most sensitive crew in sports behind MLB umpires.
Doncic knows it, and he can’t help himself.
While Doncic often looks like he is pouting on the floor, off the floor he has demonstrated no sign of resisting any efforts of critique, or quitting.
Doncic may have some diva in him, but he’s not Kyrie Irving.
Doncic is not going to pull a Ben Simmons and research for reasons not to play.
At no point has Doncic shown anything to suggest he’s going to repeat the James Harden routine, quit and force multiple trades.
From a coaching, and organizational standpoint, Doncic is more akin to a Giannis Antetokounmpo; a lifer, and someone who may display a strain or two from carrying a franchise, but whose behavior won’t be much of an issue.
Doncic has a gift, and is a gift.
He just needs to keep growing up.
